Do we appease barbarians, or do we fight to protect those whose humanity and decency we chose to defend.


Freedom Fighter.

He saw what remained of him at the end of the trench.
His friend for five years and lover of his youngest sister,

Where once was a University prizewinner who laughed, and joked, was a wreck, the victim of an RPG detonating alongside his firing point.Their position had been over-run by the black clad hoard who had found insufficient left of his friend to defile or further mutilate.The position was re-taken quickly. One of those who paid the price had an 'Aston Villa', football team tatoo on his left arm. A supporter of home-brew fascism.

What startled him was not the sight of flailed limbs, and exposed bones, but the peaceful smile on his face. The only part of him intact was his head and neck. The rest of him would not have filled a suitcase. He could only imagine that his last thoughts were of home and his girl.

He, as did the band of brothers, placed their lives in danger every day.Their cause was to contest fascist barbarism and a convoluted version of a sacred religion.They were actively discouraged from taking part but had decided that what they and their country believed in was worth defending.
Others would hide and pretend it was not their problem.

The five of them decided to bury him where he fell in the hot desert sand, marking the spot with his mangled rifle and beret.

He knew as his best friend he would have to write to his parents and especially to his own sister.The words would have to wait, the moment was not now, as rage and red mist helplessness with sheer anger overcame him.

He knew that in two hours following an air strike, an armour led assault would be going in. In the meantime he consoled himself in prayer but had decided that those who hide behind black flags, especially from his own country would pay a price for their barbarity.

Will barbarians succeed when good men turn their head and do nothing? It has happened in the past, perhaps it will happen again. But then humanity usually has a way of placing good over evil.

It takes exceptional men with resolve to achieve this end.





Poetry by Sid Gardner
Read 828 times
Written on 2015-06-11 at 22:52

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